diff --git a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper.java b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper.java
index 1f99ac5..7bb86ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper.java
@@ -34,14 +34,13 @@ import org.kohsuke.stapler.StaplerRequest;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.Comparator;
-import java.util.List;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
+import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import org.apache.commons.collections.Closure;
 import org.apache.commons.collections.CollectionUtils;
@@ -83,7 +82,12 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
     public ResourceList getResourceList() {
         ResourceList resources = new ResourceList();
         for (LockWaitConfig lock : locks) {
-            resources.w(new Resource(null, "locks-and-latches/lock/" + lock.getName(), DESCRIPTOR.getWriteLockCount()));
+            Resource resource = new Resource(null, "locks-and-latches/lock/" + lock.getName(), DESCRIPTOR.getWriteLockCount());
+            if (lock.isShared()) {
+                resources.r(resource);
+            } else {
+                resources.w(resource);
+            }
         }
         return resources;
     }
@@ -101,6 +105,7 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
         });
 
         // build the list of "real" locks
+        final Map<String,Boolean> sharedLocks = new HashMap<String,Boolean>();
         for (LockWaitConfig lock : locks) {
             NamedReentrantLock backupLock;
             do {
@@ -110,6 +115,7 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
                 }
             } while (backupLock == null);
             backups.add(backupLock);
+            sharedLocks.put(lock.getName(), lock.isShared());
         }
 
         final StringBuilder locksToGet = new StringBuilder();
@@ -129,8 +135,15 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
             DESCRIPTOR.lockingLock.lock();
             try {
                 for (NamedReentrantLock lock : backups) {
-                    buildListener.getLogger().print("[locks-and-latches] Trying to get " + lock.getName() + "... ");
-                    if (lock.tryLock()) {
+                    boolean shared = sharedLocks.get(lock.getName());
+                    buildListener.getLogger().print("[locks-and-latches] Trying to get " + lock.getName() + " in " + (shared ? "shared" : "exclusive") + " mode... ");
+                    Lock actualLock;
+                    if (shared) {
+                        actualLock = lock.readLock();
+                    } else {
+                        actualLock = lock.writeLock();
+                    }
+                    if (actualLock.tryLock()) {
                         buildListener.getLogger().println(" Success");
                         locked.add(lock);
                     } else {
@@ -141,8 +154,15 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
                 }
                 if (!haveAll) {
                     // release them all
-                    for (ReentrantLock lock : locked) {
-                        lock.unlock();
+                    for (NamedReentrantLock lock : locked) {
+                        boolean shared = sharedLocks.get(lock.getName());
+                        Lock actualLock;
+                        if (shared) {
+                            actualLock = lock.readLock();
+                        } else {
+                            actualLock = lock.writeLock();
+                        }
+                        actualLock.unlock();
                     }
                 }
             } finally {
@@ -161,8 +181,15 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
             @Override
             public boolean tearDown(AbstractBuild abstractBuild, BuildListener buildListener) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
                 buildListener.getLogger().println("[locks-and-latches] Releasing all the locks");
-                for (ReentrantLock lock : backups) {
-                    lock.unlock();
+                for (NamedReentrantLock lock : backups) {
+                    boolean shared = sharedLocks.get(lock.getName());
+                    Lock actualLock;
+                    if (shared) {
+                        actualLock = lock.readLock();
+                    } else {
+                        actualLock = lock.writeLock();
+                    }
+                    actualLock.unlock();
                 }
                 buildListener.getLogger().println("[locks-and-latches] All the locks released");
                 return super.tearDown(abstractBuild, buildListener);
@@ -319,14 +346,16 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
 
     public static final class LockWaitConfig implements Serializable {
         private String name;
+        private boolean shared;
         private transient LockConfig lock;
 
         public LockWaitConfig() {
         }
 
         @DataBoundConstructor
-        public LockWaitConfig(String name) {
+        public LockWaitConfig(String name, boolean shared) {
             this.name = name;
+            this.shared = shared;
         }
 
         public LockConfig getLock() {
@@ -340,6 +369,14 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
             this.lock = lock;
         }
 
+        public boolean isShared() {
+            return shared;
+        }
+
+        public void setShared(boolean shared) {
+            this.shared = shared;
+        }
+
         public String getName() {
             if (lock == null) {
                 return name;
@@ -357,7 +394,7 @@ public class LockWrapper extends BuildWrapper implements ResourceActivity {
      * Extends {@code ReentrantLock} to add a {@link #name} attribute (mainly
      * for display purposes).
      */
-    public static final class NamedReentrantLock extends ReentrantLock {
+    public static final class NamedReentrantLock extends ReentrantReadWriteLock {
         private String name;
 
         public NamedReentrantLock(String name) {
diff --git a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper/config.jelly b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper/config.jelly
index 5244c8a..ee36dd7 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper/config.jelly
+++ b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/locksandlatches/LockWrapper/config.jelly
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@
                                 </select>
                             </td>
                             <td>
+                                <f:checkbox checked="${locks.shared}" name="locks.locks.shared" />
+                                <label class="attach-previous">Shared</label>
+                            </td>
+                            <td>
                                 <div align="left">
                                     <f:repeatableDeleteButton/>
                                 </div>